What Mattered the Most
by Autumn FireSpirit
Summary: It had been two months since Mukuro last visited Chrome, but when he finally did, it was the last. Maybe it would've been better for Chrome if he never came. 9669 shipping.


**This Fanfiction has been sitting half-written on my desktop for weeks. I was not able to finish it since I have no idea how it end it interestingly. But thankfully I finally did. This is not the first Fanfiction I wrote about KHR (you can also check my Wattpad account under the same username: Autumn_FireSpirit) there are some fanfictions there that I did not post here. I'd be eternally glad if you could read and review. **

**And any criticisms are appreciated! Since I've been like a year away from writing, I doubt my skills wouldn't go rusty.**

**Disclaimer: Own nothing.**

**Note: Sorry if Chrome turned out a little OOC.**

* * *

_**What Mattered the Most**_

_"You don't need to know, Chrome, only understand." - Mukuro Rokudo  
_

_by Autumn FireSpirit  
_

* * *

_"This world," She remembered Mukuro-sama telling her at some time in the past, "holds an insensitive, harsh, pitiful sense of humour. And there is never enough time or chances to acquire both love and power."_

_She could only stare at him as he spoke. "And what did you chose?"_

_"The thing that matters to me the most."_

_If her brain had worked a little more efficiently, Chrome would have noticed that her Mukuro-sama was deliberately not giving an explicit answer. But she did not, and it would be considered as horrifically rude to ask someone like Mukuro, "Which is?"_

_"The people I love." To both their surprises, Mukuro did not seem angry. "Are my friends and my family."_

_"Then... do you love me, Mukuro-sama?" She wanted to ask, the question that was caught in her throat every time she sets eyes on his face.  
_

_But of course, she never did._

"You really have to work on your attitude, Chrome."

The voice that came from across the hall did not bother her despite its rashness, intimidating tone. Instead, Chrome ignores Ken's statement, shifting her position into a tighter pose by pulling her legs up and propping her chin on them. Although the other two Kokuyo's had made it blatantly obvious that they took her in only for the sake of Mukuro-sama, she knew better than they thought, and that it was only an excuse to avert being questioned.

After a few minutes, she says finally "I want to be alone."

Ken practically slapped himself. "You've been saying that this entire month!" He stomps on the ground impatiently, but refrains himself when Chrome showed no sign of being affected. Her mind was wandering elsewhere. "Still no message from Mukuro-sama?" he added in a softer tone, with all the gentleness he could muster.

There was only a slight shake from her head, but it was enough of what he could get from her. "No." she said, and buries her face insider her arms.

Ken's expression went slack as his jaw drops open. For a while she wondered if he was going to say something comforting; but at the last moment, "You're so useless." He whined, and left.

Alone again, Chrome felt as she'd gotten back her private space. Peeping slightly from in between her arms, she reaches a hand down to draw on the dust-covered floor. 'Rokudo', she wrote, before adding another word below it: 'Dokuro'.

It was the name given to her by Mukuro-sama himself when they first met, and agreed to a mutually-beneficial deal. But it was only now, did she realize Dokuro was the reverse of Rokudo. And for some reason it made her happy. She yawns, "Mukuro-sama, I've missed you..."

* * *

Chrome could not suppress the fleeting feeling when she felt soft grass wavering against her bare feet. It had been a while since she visited this place, where the sounds of the wind rage on and granting her a rare sense of peaceful feeling, where the astounding vibrancy of colours of the sky and land never failed to lighten her spirit, where all she could see was an endless stretch of mother nature with not a single hint of the destruction man left in his wake. Her Kokuyo uniform was gone, replaced with a clean white dress specifically meant for her.

"Kufufufu... It's been a while, Chrome."

A deep voice came from behind her, velvet and smooth, and overly mature for its owner. She knew that voice by heart and needed no more than five seconds to discern it belonged to her beloved, "Mukuro-sama." she blurted. "T-two months. Where have you gone?"

He made no move to answer her question just yet, instead moving forward to tip her chin up, taking a long glance at her face before the rest of her body. "I don't remember leaving you this..." he hesitated, "...shattered."

It always made her wonder, really, how one word from him could make her blush so madly. "I... I missed you." she admitted, bursting into tears as she lunges forward in an attempt to hug him. But as she opens her eyes, he was no longer there.

"I know; but remember you can't touch me in this illusional world."

She turns around and saw him, standing there, cloaked in a matching white buttoned shirt and dark coloured trousers like her own.

"Mukuro-sama..."

And suddenly, the air in between them grew incredibly tense, without the usual home-warming feeling they have, as if a wall had sprout up in between them. Chrome looks down, fiddling with the hem of her dress, ashamed for whatever reason that was in her mind.

"Kufufufu... That wretched Ken is right, you look better without a pineapple hairstyle."

That was enough to make her blush instantly. She found that she'd been doing that quite often, especially whenever Mukuro-sama is around. Her shoulders flinched at the touch of fingers, turning around she saw him, with that usual sly look on his face. "You can't touch me, but the other way around I can; because this is my world." He chuckles.

She felt his touch stinging, maybe because it was the fact that they have not met in so long. "...where have you gone?" she asked again, and winces a little inwardly when Mukuro-sama frowns.

"I have... business. But I couldn't tell you anything just yet." he said, the sense of unfriendly and foreign tone evident in his voice. "You don't need to know anything, just to understand."

At that she felt suddenly, she'd been treated terribly unfair. Who is he to demand all her secret and yet told her none of his?

He seem to found it uneasy when she was being quiet, so he continues to speak. "I've heard you've grown stronger." he chuckles a little, as though trying to make light out of the situation. "It's not difficult, really, I didn't need to go through any tedious protocols. While Vendicare does its job by keeping me out of reach from society, they can't keep news from coming in."

She looks up at him. _He's lying. Did Mukuro-sama really try to keep up on us even when he's in prison? _She did not need to ask.

"Perhaps I've paid someone to get information on you, but that's all."

Her eye widens in shock, but somewhat felt happy that Mukuro really did waste an ounce of his time to care for them. "Why?"

He raises an eyebrow. "Hmm?"

"If you cared about us then why block my signal when I was trying to contact you?"

Mukuro took a few steps back, as though something hard had just hit him on the chest. But what made her shock was the fact that it surprise _her _also. To be honest with herself, Chrome has no idea where that came from. It just.. sort of happened, and before she could picture what she was going to say she had already blurt it out.

"So you knew." Mukuro-sama's expression immediately changed, the soft, warm light on his face was gone replaced by a dark, cold, hostile facade. "You knew all along that I was deliberately declining to answer your calls."

She should have known from the start that Mukuro-sama would never just appear for a random chit-chat. He usually came only when there was a fight, or someone unlikeable was stirring trouble, or the event happening was not to his favour... or he had something important to tell. And then it became obvious. So obvious that she wondered why it had not occurred to her instantly. "You came to say goodbye."

"Yes." He answered casually, as if it wasn't affecting him the least.

It seemed to her that she was dreaming. It's impossible. It's not happening. "You're leaving us?_ Why?_"

"I just said, I will say again: You don't need to know anything, just to understand."

"Enough! That's unfair!" She exploded, her face red with uncontrollable anger. "Why do you always deny my right to know? To know what's happening?" She collapse to the ground, kneeling. "Two months! I've waited two months for you to show up, and when you finally did it was to say goodbye." She was weeping. In his absence she never left Kokuyo, fearing if she did he might not get to reach her, and each day she would take a piece of paper and write down all the things she wanted to tell him, and at every week that passed the list grew longer; but it was all for nothing now.

"You said..." she finally spoke, despite her face red with pressure trying to contain all her anger. It was probably the first time she ever shouted to him. "...a year ago, you said you chose love over power."

Mukuro blinks several times, trying to retrieve the memory she was speaking of. Finally, he did. "Oh, oya oya..." he said, "To be honest with you, Chrome, I didn't really put it to heart. Come to think of it now, I did said that. But does it matter?"

"Of course it does. I've thought of it everyday since. You promised you would stay by our side, to protect your friends and your family." She responded, "...to protect the things that matter to you the most."

She did not allow him to speak yet, instead she stood again, her eyes watery but tearless. "And... above all of those, I love you, Mukuro-sama. Do you love me?"

Mukuro was slightly impressed that for the first time she could speak so much and so well, contrary to their every prior confrontation. However he did not look faltered, "Is that what you believed all these while? That I loved you?"

_What? He couldn't. It's a lie. _

It was as though the prince charming she always imagined her Mukuro-sama was was wilting, revealing a monster that had been hiding in the inside. A monster that would go to as low as to manipulate an innocent girl's feelings, and use his friends to achieve his own goal to his own benefits.

"You're lying." She manage to breathe out. But the uneven tone and nervousness in her voice indicated that even she was doubting herself. So Mukuro had no reason not to.

"You wanted an answer to your question, so I'll say it now: The person I loved most had always been myself. And everything I've ever done was to benefit myself. Honestly, Chrome, did you think you meant to me more than just a passport to my goal?"

She was shaking, struggling to hold herself in while she searches for the words to make him pay for what he said. Her voice came out surprisingly calm. "I wished I've never met you."

Mukuro's look faded, and for a while Chrome thought if her words had _really _affected him. But just as it seems he was going to lean down and kiss her, Mukuro gave her a smile, took a few steps backwards, and vanished into a cloud of mist flames; leaving Chrome to her thoughts, the thoughts that she never said aloud in words but had always been there, and in his absence only did she let those tears burst out, burying her face in the comfort of her arms, shoulders shaking uncontrollably in the affords of her silent weeps.

Chrome woke with a jolt into reality to find her face teary. Her last hour of meeting with Mukuro had gone terribly awry unexpectedly, and she regretted it. Drained and tired from the prior event, Chrome yawns and stretches her legs, letting out a surprised gasp when her foot hit something. She sat upwards, reaching out to take the object while wondering who had left it there. It was a pineapple plushie, with a blue and red eye and an innocent smile that would never be seen on Mukuro-sama.

She hugs it tight, tears streaming from her face; but these were tears from her affection of joy and not sorrow.

From the furthest doorway of the hall, two heads peek inside, staring intently as the entire occurrence happen before their eyes.

"I bet she thought Mukuro-san left that," Chikusa mumbles, pushing up his glasses before they fell over his nose. "Should we tell her it was you?"

"Nah." Ken gave him a dismissal wave, "Let's leave her to her imagination for once." _After all, _he thought, he was rewarded enough to see her happy.

Chikusa pushes his glasses up again, staring at Ken -who did not stare back as he was entirely focused on a rare, happy Chrome-, and for the first time felt proud of his friend.

* * *

In the depths of Vendicare Europe, a few thousand miles below the surface of the earth, held a Water Prison. Said impregnable, it had lived up to its name. The Vendicare Europe Water Prison was built for only one purpose - to contain the world's most dangerously acknowledged Mafia terrorists. Few were worthy enough to deserve such a reputation, but among all the convicts that were held within, only one was discerned for his skills at such a young age.

"You did well, Rokudo Mukuro."

A man stood in front of his cell, hands on his hips as he praised the Mist Guardian infinitely. Of all people with allegiance to the Mafia he have met, Mukuro hated this man for all he was; although it was interesting to note that the Mist had no problem with his son, Sawada Tsunayoushi.

"Now that you have cut your connection with your friends completely, they wouldn't be involved in what we are working on. And as promised we will move them to a residence in Italy, with enough money to cover a life-long expense, along with a new identity to start clean..." said Iemitsu, staring at Mukuro's immobile body floating in the water with all his senses sealed, leaving only an eye to open at times to look at what was around him. But that moment Mukuro did not open his eye to look at the External Advisor. Iemitsu knew the boy hated him for constantly asking him for favours and making deals, using the security of his friends in exchange. "Well I've kept to the end of my bargain; I hope you will keep yours."

When the boy made no move to reply to him (he could not do it literally, actually, but usually he would blink once or twice as indication), the External Advisor added with a slightly harsher tone. "Forgive me for saying this, Mukuro, but I am certain you are well aware that after some time they will forget about you... perhaps not in five or seven years, but ten, twenty, or thirty? They will; it is only eventually. And will you think all these are still worth it?" When Mukuro made no intention produce an answer again, Iemitsu shrugs, simply turn on his heels and left.

Although he could hear him clearly, Mukuro was not listening to the last sentence he spoke. Instead, Chrome's last words were swirling in his head, refusing to leave him at peace. '_I wished I've never met you...' _He never thought it would come to this point, that led them to say words that will break each other's heart. But there is no going back now. A tear forces itself out of his eye, but was washed away instantly by the water.

He could hear the other man leaving. Perhaps it was better that they each kept to the end of their agreement without interacting too much. While all these was worth it, Mukuro would still have a reason to not kill this man; but it did not stop him from cursing Iemitsu's name through all six paths of hell.


End file.
